Odisha train accident: Railway Board orders double-locking of signalling assets

New Delhi: The Indian Railway Board on Saturday ordered a double-locking arrangement for all its signalling assets after the Odisha train accident. The Board also issued directions to bolster the protocol for the commencement of train movement after maintenance work.

The Railway Board has ordered a double-locking arrangement for all relay rooms with train controlling mechanisms, relay huts housing signalling and telecommunications equipment of level-crossings, and point and track circuit signals to keep a check on accidents.

The order however indicated that the access to the relay room was key to the signalling interference that caused the Coromandel train accident.

“With enough evidence to show that some human interference was involved in the interlocking system that caused the deadly accident, it is now important for us to make it tamper-proof,” said a senior railways official.

“This double locking will ensure that no one can access these locations in isolation,” he added.

This is the third such order on signalling issued by the Railway Board since the accident is being probed by the CBI.